There are many versions of the origin of the famous romance “White Acacia Fragrant Clusters.” The first version of this romance was published in 1902 in the collection “Gypsy Nights” without indicating the authors of the words and music.
In the summer of 1903, the St. Petersburg publishing house "Note Printing House of V. Bessel and Co" in the series "Gypsy Songs of N. P. Lyutsenko" appeared the score of the romance "with vocal parts for tenor and soprano." The romance was gaining popularity. The text and notes had the subtitle “a famous gypsy romance as edited by Varya Panina and musically arranged by Zorin,” but there were still no authors. Then there were these words in it
White acacia fragrant clusters
Full of aroma again
The nightingale's song resounds again
In the quiet glow of the wonderful moon!Do you remember the summer, under the white acacia
Have you listened to the song of the nightingale?..
The wonderful, bright one quietly whispered to me:
“Darling, forever, forever yours.”The years have long passed, the passions have cooled,
The youth of life has passed,
White acacia with a delicate scent,
I will never forget, I will never forget...
The performance of Yuri Morfessi (1882-1957) gained the greatest popularity after its significant creative processing. The romance began to be called simply " White acacia»:
White acacia branches fragrant
The delight of spring blows,
The song of the nightingale is quietly heard
In the pale sparkle, the sparkle of the moon.Do you remember at night among the white acacias
The nightingale trilled,
Gently clinging to me, you whispered to me, languid:
“Believe me, forever, forever I’m yours”?Time has flown by, and old age is merciless
They sent us years
But the aroma of fragrant acacias
I will never forget, I will never forget.
Gramophone records with recordings of “White Acacia” performed by Panina, Vyaltseva, Sergeeva, Emskaya, Morfessi and the Sadovnikov brothers quickly spread throughout all the cities of the vast country and even went into exile with their owners.
But the transformations of the romance did not end there. The First was raging in the country World War. Based on the popular romance, the people created a patriotic soldier's song, which began with the following words:
Grandfathers, we heard that the war has begun,
The grandfathers sighed, waved their hands,
You know, it’s your will, and the tears are wiped away...
Volunteers from the army of Tsarist General Denikin remade the words of this song and made it the anthem of their Volunteer Army. This song sounded in Kyiv they captured.
It turns out that this song was sung on both sides of the barricades, but each with their own words. Here are the words of the White Guard “Volunteer Song”:
Grandfathers heard - the war has begun,
Stop what you're doing and get ready to go on a hike.
We will boldly go into battle for Holy Rus'
And as one we will shed young blood.
Soon we will finish off the enemy calculations.
We will boldly go into battle for Holy Rus'
And as one we will shed young blood.The red chains appeared
We will fight them to the death.
We will boldly go into battle for Holy Rus'
And as one we will shed young blood.
And here are the words of the song that the Red Army soldiers sang:
Listen, worker, the war has begun:
Stop what you're doing and get ready for a hike!Shells explode, machine guns crackle,
But the red companies are not afraid of them.
We will boldly go into battle for Soviet power
And as one we will die fighting for it.White chains appeared
We will fight them to the death.
We will boldly go into battle for Soviet power
And as one we will die fighting for it.
But this did not end the transformation of the famous romance. The First World War, the Civil War, the Great Patriotic War ended... In the 1970s, it was decided to begin filming a television film based on Bulgakov’s novel “ White Guard" Director Basov went to Kyiv to get acquainted with the location of the novel.
This is what musicologist E. Biryukov recalls: “When starting to film “The Days of the Turbins,” Vladimir Pavlovich remembered that in those ancient times, when the action of Bulgakov’s play takes place, the romance “The fragrant bunches of white acacia” was in fashion, the melody of which later changed almost to unrecognizable, acquired a marching character and formed the basis of the famous revolutionary song “We will boldly go into battle.”
The director wanted the themes of these two songs to sound in the film as a distant memory of those years, and set such a task for M. Matusovsky and composer V. Basner. This is how two songs appeared in the TV movie. The marching song about the armored train “Proletary” did not go beyond the film and did not gain widespread popularity. But “Romance,” as the poet and composer called the reminiscence song about “White Acacia,” received its rebirth and fame.
And it was the Kiev blooming acacia that inspired the poet M. Matusovsky, and he conveyed his mood to the composer.
And here are the final words of the popular romance.
White acacia fragrant clusters
First published in 1902 in the series “Gypsy Nights” without indicating the name of the author of words and music. Later it was published as a “famous gypsy romance”, edited by Varia Panina and musically arranged by A. M. Zorin, but also unnamed. Nevertheless, it is believed that the text is based on a reworking of Pugachev’s poem. But in some sources the author of the text is called Volin-Volsky (his romance to the music of M. Sharov “A tear clouds my vision” is known), and the author of the music is M. Sharov or A. Lutsenko.
The most stable version remains the authorship of Pugachev, who owns more than three dozen romances to the music of M. K. Steinberg, J. de Botari and other romance composers.
Many of these romances entered the repertoire of the most famous pop singers as "gypsies". The romance “The Fragrant Clusters of White Acacia” gained the greatest popularity when performed by Yuri Morfessi. The tune was used in the revolutionary song “We will boldly go into battle.” Folklore variants were recorded in the 20th century.
From here
Nadezhda Obukhova
Alla Bayanova
Boris Shtokolov
Evgeny Shalya and Andrey Shilov (guitar)
Modern variation-stylization
Music by Venimanin Basner, lyrics by Mikhail Matusovsky
Lyudmila Senchina
Oleg Pogudin
From the film "Days of the Turbins"
White acacia. Sung in different versions
White acacia fragrant clusters
Full of aroma again
The nightingale's song resounds again
In the quiet radiance, the radiance of the moon.
Do you remember, in the summer under the white acacia
Have you heard the nightingale's song?
The wonderful, bright one quietly whispered to me:
“Darling, forever, forever yours!”
The years have long passed, the passions have cooled,
The youth of life has passed...
White acacia with a delicate scent
I will not forget, I will never forget!..
Arranged by Yuri Morfessi
White acacia
Fragrant branches
The delight of spring blows,
Quietly spreading
The Nightingale's Song
In pale sparkle,
The sparkle of the moon.
Do you remember at night
Among the white acacias
The nightingale trilled,
Gently clinging,
You whispered to me, languid:
"Believe, forever,
I'm yours forever"?
Time has flown by
And old age is merciless
They sent us years
But the aroma
Scented acacias
I won't forget
Never forget.
Mikhail Matusovsky
The nightingale whistled to us all night
The city was silent and the houses were silent
White acacia fragrant clusters
White acacia fragrant clusters
They drove us crazy all night long
The garden was all washed by spring showers
There was water in the dark ravines
God how naive we were
How young we were then
The years have flown by making us gray
Where is the purity of these living branches
Reminds me of them today
Only winter and this white snowstorm
Reminds me of them today
At the hour when the wind is raging furiously
With new strength I feel
White acacia fragrant clusters
Irreversible like my youth
White acacia fragrant clusters
Unique like my youth
Illustration from the Internet. Collage by Vladimir PASTUKHOV
You can listen to the romance performed by a chamber vocal ensemble of teachers on the page in the list concert numbers, located after the "favorites" list.
There is still controversy surrounding the history of the creation of this romance. Are the poems by Mikhail Matusovsky, the author of the music, Veniamin Basner, or someone else? Whose acacia is glorified in the romance: Odessa, Moscow, Kiev? There are many versions, but none stand up to criticism.
When starting filming the television film "Days of the Turbins", Vladimir Basov turned to his favorite poet and songwriter Mikhail Matusovsky with a request to write memorable words of a romance especially for this film. Moreover, such that they emphasize the leitmotif of the mood of the heroes of Mikhail Bulgakov’s play “Days of the Turbins” and in places of his novel “The White Guard”, so that the viewer is immediately mentally transported to the events civil war and to the long-suffering city of Kyiv, tormented by endless changes of authorities...
Matusovsky offered Basov one of their most beloved romances, “The Fragrant Clusters of White Acacia,” which, born back in 1902, successfully survived several alterations of the text, and lived to see October revolution. The words of the original source were most likely written by the poet A. A. Pugachev and set to music by the composer A. Zorin ( real name- A. M. Tsymbal).
The words of this romance were first published in 1902 in the collection “Gypsy Nights” without indicating the names of the authors of the words and music, and therefore disputes about the authorship of this work still continue. In the summer of 1903, the St. Petersburg Music Printing House of V. Bessel and Co., in the series “Gypsy Songs of N. P. Lyutsenko,” already published the score of the romance “with vocal parts for tenor and soprano” accompanied by piano.
Romance became increasingly popular. Its text and notes were published with the subtitle “a famous gypsy romance as edited by Varia Panina and musically arranged by Zorin,” but still remained anonymous.
During the First World War, the people used the melody of the famous romance, creating and completely replacing the text, a soldier's patriotic song, which began with these words:
Grandfathers, have you heard that there is war?
started
Stop what you're doing and go on a hike
get ready.
We will boldly go into battle for
Holy Rus'
And as one we will shed blood
young
The volunteers of the army of Tsarist General A.I. Denikin, reworking and adding verses of this song, made it the anthem of their Volunteer Army, which in 1919 they sang in Kyiv, which they captured.
Text her with in different words they sang on opposite sides of the barricades, both white and red. And, of course, each in his own way.
Grandfathers heard - the war has begun,
Stop what you're doing and go on a hike
get ready.
We will boldly go into battle
for the power of the Soviets
And we will die as one
In the fight for it.
A lot of time has passed... the Great Patriotic War. And only in the mid-70s did the authorities allow the film adaptation of this “ideologically harmful” work. Vladimir Basov also carefully read Bulgakov’s work “The White Guard”. The director was imbued with his mood and the unique atmosphere of the City. Then he turned to the poet M. Matusovsky.
When starting filming, V. Basov remembered that at the time when the action in the film takes place; The romance “The fragrant bunches of white acacia” was popular. The melody has changed beyond recognition over all these years. The rhythm of the romance, which formed the basis of the revolutionary song “Boldly we will go into battle,” also became a marching rhythm.
The director wanted the themes of these two songs to sound in the film as a response, an echo, as a distant memory of those years. The next birth of the new-old romance began immediately after the premiere of the television film.
One day Lyudmila Senchina came to Veniamin Basner’s dacha with a request to write the melodies of several new songs for her. The composer offered her a new one full version"White acacia". Here are the first and fourth verses of the romance.
All night nightingale to us
whistled
The city was silent and the houses were silent.
They drove us crazy all night long.
At the hour when the wind is raging
frantically
With new strength I feel:
Irreversible, like my youth.
Since then, the triumphant procession of the romance “Fragrant bunches of white acacia” began throughout the country. In any corner of our fatherland at that time one could hear the sad and heartfelt lines of the romance about youth and love, about the blooming acacia and the great City... This romance has already outlived all its creators and has become truly popular.
The romance is set in the key of E-minor, which is favorable for singing. Its melody is very conveniently sung in two voices: it can be performed by a duet of female voices - soprano, alto, and it also sounds beautiful when performed by soprano and tenor. The special harmonic beauty of the melody is given by the thirds in the second voice in the chorus, almost intuitively adjusted during singing, and the wide and beautiful sounding sixths in the chorus.
Reviews
Thank you very much for your feedback, Pavel. You can listen to this romance
there, on my page, performed by an ensemble of teachers
our Children's Art School (CHILDREN'S SCHOOL OF ARTS). This concert took place in the Hall
Union of Artists on Okhta (St. Petersburg). Not only this one sounded there
romance. And not only in this St. Petersburg hall... We were very active
concert activities. Your review brought back memories...
that my gratitude and appreciation to you -
Thank you very much for such a detailed and interesting post! We learned this old melody in music school during lessons. musical literature precisely on the theme of “songs of the revolution and civil war,” but with the caveat that this was converted from the “philistine romance” of White Acacia. It is possible that this happened even earlier, in music school. So it stuck in my head as a reworked version of the already revolutionary song “We will boldly go into battle for the power of the Soviets.” But I was delighted with Basner-Matusovsky’s stylization from the very beginning. It is done very subtly and very precisely. And Senchina sang it very well. And I really liked Basov’s entire film (Bulgakov’s books were not available to me at that time, except for “the master” in a magazine version and with banknotes). In general, there were a lot of things based on the principles of the similarity of some popular songs... At our conservatory, my friend once FAILED an entire course, really. Then she herself got screwed for it. Our “wind players” usually entered the conservatory after the army and were especially diligent in everything that did not relate to playing the instrument. were no different and often missed lectures. And my friend, still a young teacher, was a person with both character and humor. In the music history exam, there were a lot of things to guess or sing in different topics.
.And just imagine: the first student comes to answer, not very confident in himself, with cheat sheets, as usual. I answered everything, and the teacher said: well, an additional simple question for you. sing me the beginning of the song "Eaglet". The guy sang... And now, he says, sing the song “Kakhovka.” The guy sings the old melody of the eaglet... with the words of Kakhovka... She: "Go, teach" Two!!!" The next one asks to sing Kakhovka first... He sings. -And now Orlyonka Toth sings the words of the Eaglet to the tune of Kakhovka. .. "Go! Two!" Panic began in the corridor, no one could understand anything anymore... The story spread throughout the conservatory instantly, everyone laughed, except those who had failed... Then the rector's office forced the teacher to correct the deuces into Cs...
Now this musicologist has long been a Doctor of Science and Professor, and then she was a young teacher, but the students were afraid of her and TAUGHT the subject. I loved her very much, although her character was difficult, but since mine was no easier, we were friends
And at the end of the story - the finale. At some skit, a double bass player suddenly jumped out of the hall straight onto the stage and howled, declaring: “Stand behind the door! Whose moan is heard? And there is no end to that moan... We call this moan a SONG, then the students pass Isanbet!” (Isanbet is her last name, she was the daughter of our famous Tatar playwright)
At this howl of his, it was Yuldus herself, my malicious but smart friend and an excellent professional, who laughed the loudest. And smiles and good mood to you! 
